s/y Nine of Cups A Visit to an Embera'Puru Village June 2008 |
David inspects the basket-making process. All the materials are natural including the dyes used to color the fibers.Tagua and wood carvings were also discussed. |
A vibrant "hot lips" plant. |
A slow sloth |
Anne Gordon, our guide and an American, is married to an Embera fellow and so provided a unique perspective of cultural and family life in the village. She was great! |
We were looking for something fantastic to do with Fay & Doug for their last day in Panama with us. I sought out Trip Advisor's Top 10 Things To Do in Panama City. We had done several of the 10...we transited (rather than just saw) the Panama Canal and did a walking tour of Casco Viejo (the old city), but the #1 thing to do was an Embera'Puru village tour. All in favor...Say Aye. Unanimous...so off we went! |
When we reached the river pick-up point, we stocked up on water and snacks for the long canoe ride ahead. The Embera tribe is one of several indigenous groups in Panama. |
Our Embera helmsmen were waiting for us by the river. The ride was about 2 hours long and sometimes the river was so shallow, we all jumped out to coax the canoe along. |
Rio Juan de Pequini is in the Parque Nacional Chagres. Above, a cormorant tree? |
Several indigenous villages are located along the river, however this was our stop. |
A warm, muscial welcome awaited us as we debarked from the canoe. |
After a round of introductions, we went to the meeting hut for a village orientation which explained a bit about the people and their culture. Marcie gingerly climbs the notched-log ladder. |
We also had the opportunity to "shop". We all bought baskets and crafts, but my favorite purchase was the monkey mask above made by Ermelinda, also pictured above. The masks are worn by the shamans during various ceremonies. |
We took a walk in the forest with Anne's father-in-law. He pointed out various plants and herbs,explaining their uses. Many were for different types of snake bites..."this one is for bites that bleed"..."this one is for bites that turn black"..."this one is for bites that cause breathing problems". Hmmm... but the only one we saw, however, was a harmless casadora. |
It was obvious that the children are the center of the community...well cared for and greatly loved. |
This chica loved Doug's hat! |
Woman typically wear wrap-around skirts called "parumas"...even the little tiny girls were decked out for our visit. |
A rousing game of basketball. They weren't much for dribbling (on the dirt), but they certainly were good ball handlers and hoop shooters. We appreciated the fact that the American influence here was something other than fast food and video games. |
A group shot and it was time to leave. All in all, a very full day and still a long canoe ride back to our starting point. We felt we learned alot about these indigenous people who inhabit the jungle and perhaps shared with them a bit about us. See our recommendation on Trip Advisor. Fay and Doug left the next morning to return to Maryland. We readied Cups to leave for the Islas Perlas (Pearl Islands) and a trip up the Rios Sabana and Iglesias in the Darien Jungle. |